Emblems

The book second features another set of 50 "Illuminated" Emblems by Nicholas Meerfeldt.Emblems began to flourish in the early 17th century, initially relating to religion and eventually evolving to include politics, morals, and metaphysics such as Rosicrucianism. Symbols or pictures if you will, being allegorical, played a significant role in teaching those who knew not how to read. I often wonder how the people during those times understood what was represented allegorically compared...
More Description

The book second features another set of 50 "Illuminated" Emblems by Nicholas Meerfeldt.Emblems began to flourish in the early 17th century, initially relating to religion and eventually evolving to include politics, morals, and metaphysics such as Rosicrucianism. Symbols or pictures if you will, being allegorical, played a significant role in teaching those who knew not how to read. I often wonder how the people during those times understood what was represented allegorically compared to our current development and understanding of the world today. They must have interpreted the emblems far differently than we, in a much more straightforward time where the imagination in many ways reigned as entertainment. What naturally would be considered by us to be bizarre, to them would make sense.The artwork in and of itself is simply magnificent considering that typically, the emblems were no larger than three for four inches to a half page in size, although rare, there are emblems as large as the page itself. After having been drawn, an engraver (usually an illustrator as well) would etch the illustration onto a thin copper plate or a wood block used in the printing process at that time. Colored emblems are known as "Illuminated," and the method of coloring them was painstakingly tricky due to the small size which accounts for the color extending past the defining lines.We at Seat of Knowledge Publishing feel it is imperative to preserve these emblems in a more aesthetic form for viewing and study. Every emblem has been enlarged and digitally enhanced to bring forth the essence of the emblem. Anyone can enjoy the beauty represented by the emblem; however, for those who are students of Alchemy or Esoterica, you will no doubt realize the enlarged, enhanced emblems allows for ease of the study. About this book and the emblem series in general, we have elected to feature the name of the illustrator rather than the author of the book since it is their work we are showcasing. Instead of the author's name, we included the frontispiece of the book that the emblems were extracted from. Note that it is not always possible to determine who the illustrator is and in that case, we indicate the engraver. Indeed, in some cases, the engraver was also the illustrator, which could very well be why the illustrator's name is not mentioned. In the circumstances wherein no illustrator or engraver is mentioned, we then use the author's name to represent the emblems. Lastly, we also research each illustrator/engraver for our series to be included. With that being said, if the artist wasn't very well known, generally there is very little information or none at all in which case, there is nothing for us to include. If there are any portraits of any kind for the individual, we include that as well simply to add a face to the illustrations if you will.In addition to the colored emblem series, we are currently publishing emblem books that were originally in black and white, or whatever color the paper was. They too have been enlarged and minimally enhanced. Too much enhancement washes away fine lines which we try to avoid as much as possible. Each emblem will typically have its unique enhancement features. Considerations such as where the book originated from, the paper quality, how it was stored, etc., would naturally determine how it discolored with age. In many cases, even within the same book, pages closer to the front or back seem to be more heavily discolored than those in the middle. Accidents such as spills on the book or poor storage thereby inducing mold growth is an additional challenge. Naturally, these factors will then dictate how and what enhancements are needed. Typically, each book features two illustrators and may represent a variety of subjects, everything from religion to politics and everything in between.